The Sixty Third Orphan
by Bloodtai
Summary: After a mysterious doctor comes to Happy Tree Town, Flaky begins piecing together forgotten events from her traumatic past where "seeing the light" was never a good thing.
1. The Man in the Mask

**I've been meaning to get this idea out of my head for the longest time. Rated M for violence and possibly some (very minor) pedophilia, this is my first story so reviews will be greatly appreciated! **

**I do not own Happy Tree Friends**

Chapter 1: The Man in the Mask

The day was over and nighttime had crept its way into the forest. All the creatures inside it had gone to sleep peacefully as the darkness took over. All except one man. A nearby thicket shook as a lizard stepped out of it, he looked as though he hadn't bathed in years and he had cold blue eyes. Half of his face was covered in mask that looked like it was made from a worn potato sack. He wore a once-white lab coat that had been dirtied and stained to look brown. His cold eyes moved from one part of the dark forest to the other before he decided to continue on.

Hours had passed but the lizard continued on, determined to reach his destination. His feet ached and his eyelids were heavy. He hadn't slept in two days, but he was used to that. He pushed his way through what seemed to be an endless forest before he found what he was looking for. After pushing away a fallen branch, he caught sight of a distant town. His heart raced as he forced himself to move faster toward the town. Excitement overwhelmed him. He had spent thirteen years travelling far and wide to find any information he could on how to get to this town. A town that was rumored to bring back the dead, most people thought it was a legend. He himself once thought it was just a silly tale that a mother would tell their child before going to sleep that night. However, after he lost everything he didn't think he had much else to lose by searching for the town. He had approached a sign that read, _"Happy Tree Town"_, and his heart almost stopped. After thirteen long years of searching, he had found it- the perfect place to continue his research. Research that, he believed, could change the world for the better. He began to follow the path to his destination; a wide and almost disturbing smile could be seen on his face the entire way.

The sun rose slowly as it did every morning. It crept its way through a window, shining light into a particular porcupine's room. The young porcupine opened her eyes, only to be met with the blinding sunlight. She quickly pulled herself under the covers. She hated bright lights; she didn't know why she hated them so much. She just felt that if she stared into them for too long she would be met with some sort of pain. She worked her way out of bed, careful not to stare into the sun. She made her way into her small bathroom to brush her teeth. The young porcupine was named Flaky; she was cowardly but very friendly and quite intelligent. When she was done brushing her teeth she went back into her bedroom to change out of her pajamas and into some more casual clothes. She quickly slipped on her tomboyish cargo shorts and a t-shirt before making some breakfast for herself. It didn't take her long to reach her kitchen. Her house was very small, it consisted of three rooms- her bedroom, bathroom, and her living room and kitchen, which were merged together. She didn't have a basement or an attic for storage, so she owned very little. Despite her poor lifestyle, she didn't mind; there wasn't much she felt she needed.

When Flaky finished eating she put her dishes in the sink and washed them while humming the Happy Tree Friends theme song. Shortly after she finished she heard a knock on the door, she opened it and smiled at her visitor.

"Hiya, Flaky!" Cuddles beamed. He was holding a baseball bat and wearing a jersey. Flaky knew where this was going.

"Um, h-hi C-cuddles. I would really like to play baseball with you today but-" before she could finish her sentence, Cuddles was already dragging the poor porcupine out the door. Flaky had realized long ago that arguing with Cuddles was futile, so she didn't bother fighting back and just let her childhood friend drag her down the street.

When the two friends arrived at the park, Cuddles finally released Flaky's arm. He looked throughout the park in search for anybody else who might want to join them. Pop was treating his dear son, Cub, to an ice cream cone, which Lifty and Shifty seemed intent on stealing. Giggles and Petunia were in the middle of a tea party under a tree and Disco Bear was moon walking over to them, so he could show off his "moves". One person in the park didn't look busy at all. Flippy sat on a park bench and stared up at the sky, most likely daydreaming about anything happy that didn't relate to the war. Cuddles ran up to the veteran and tapped on his shoulder, bringing him back from his trance-like state. He smiled at Cuddles then to Flaky, who wasn't far behind. "Hey, Flippy! How would ya like to play ball with me and Flaky? If we have three people then we'll have one person to bat, one person to pitch, and one catch! " Cuddles asked excitedly.

"Well I'm not really doing anything, so sure why not." Flippy smiled. Flaky smiled back at him, he rarely left his house because of his evil side, and when he did she enjoyed spending time with him. The three friends made their way to a less crowded part of the park to begin their game. It wasn't a real game since there were no bases and no one was in the field, but they had fun nonetheless. Flippy pitched the ball, and Cuddles hit it with his old wooden bat. Flaky decided to be the catcher since she thought it was safer, too bad she was wrong. Cuddles didn't bother bringing safety gear since the word, "safe" didn't seem to be in his realm of vocabulary. "Come on Flippy! Show me what you're made of! Quit throwing the ball like a three-year-old and show me some skill! ", Cuddles mocked. Flippy smirked and threw the ball as hard as he could, which was pretty fast considering how strong Flippy was. "Woah!" Cuddles jumped. He moved aside in reflex to the speeding object, making it hit Flaky in the jaw. Flaky fell to the ground unconscious. The last thing she heard before passing out was Flippy's panicked, apologetic voice.

_Flashback_

_Flaky opened her eyes to a bright light. The light was blinding, forcing her to shut them again. She was strapped down and unable to move, she never understood why the restraints were necessary. It's not like she had anywhere else to go. She heard footsteps in the room, but refused to open her eyes to whoever it may be, in fear of the light blinding her. She felt a sharpness in her arm before a cold tingle swarmed through her body. She held in her tears as pain filled her body. After forty-five minutes of what most would call torture, she was escorted out of the room. The five-year-old made her way through the orphanage to the lower level where her and the rest of the children slept, getting as far away from the examination room as possible._

**Well what do you guys think? I strongly encourage constructive criticism and no flames**


	2. The Medical Help Room

Chapter 2: The Medical Help Room

The strange lizard made his way into the town. He was amazed by every part of it. The town itself seemed to be a joyous one, as everyone in it seemed to be smiling. The only problem was he still had no idea whether or not this town really did bring you back after death. But, of course, he was going to find out one way or the other. He took a good look at those around him before he set his sights on a father bear with his son. He kept watch on them until the father left to get his hungry son another ice cream cone. The lizard worked his way over to the baby and, when no one was looking, picked him up and ran to the nearest road. After setting the child down on the ground, the lizard gave him a pat on the head and pushed the baby into the road.

The father, whose name was Pop, panicked as he realized that his son wasn't where he left him. He ran around the park, frantically searching for his only child. He stopped dead in his tracks as he heard what sounded like a crash and the sound of a liquid hitting the pavement. He turned his head around slowly, fearing the worst. His fears were realized when he saw his child's lifeless carcass in a pool of blood on the nearby road. He ran to his child and fell on his knees. It wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for his son Cub to die, but it still hurt deeply.

The cruel lizard made his way over to the mournful father. "I'm so sorry", the lizard said with fake sympathy. "It must be hard to lose a child."

"Yes…well…it just gets more painful every time…" Pop cried.

This sparked the lizard's interest, "Every time you say? But how is that possible? You can only die once, after all." The lizard held his breathe as he awaited the bear's response. After all, whatever the bear's response was would determine whether the last thirteen years of the lizard's life were worth it.

"Not in this town" the bear sighed.

The lizard let himself breathe and almost jumped in the air out of joy. He had found it! His thirteen years of searching were over, now he could settle down in this town and really get down to business. Pop was feeling better knowing that his son would be returned to him in a day or two. The lizard was beginning to take his leave when Pop turned to him and said, "You're obviously new here, what might your name be?"

The lizard turned back at Pop and stared at him for a moment or two, as if he was in some kind of a trance. "You can call me Doc, that's what everybody else calls me." The lizard walked out of Pop's sight, "Doc, huh?" Pop thought. He looked down at his dead son, "If he really is a doctor, I'm sure he'll be an improvement over Lumpy."

Flaky fluttered her eyes open to see that she was still in the park, only now the sun was beginning to set. Next to her was Flippy, who was looking away and hadn't seemed to notice that she had woken up. Cuddles wasn't around so he must have left, probably to take Giggles on that date he had been promising her for days.

"F-flippy?" the little porcupine shifted her body so she could face him. He immediately turned to her and guilt washed over him. "Flaky! I'm so sorry! Really, I didn't know I could throw it that hard and that it would hit you!" Flippy couldn't bring himself to stop apologizing. The hit gave her a black eye, but Flaky didn't see it as a big deal. As long as the day didn't end with her being skinned, strangled, or burned to death, Flippy could give her all the black eyes he wanted. When Flippy was finally done apologizing he offered to escort Flaky home, an offer Flaky happily accepted.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes, all the while Flaky thought about the odd dream she recently had. _Dream? More like a nightmare_, Flaky thought. It all seemed so real; the pain that took over her body, not to mention the cold table she was strapped to. The thing that she found most peculiar was how she wasn't her current eighteen year-old self; she was a five year-old living in an orphanage. Before she could finish her thoughts, she was in front of her home. She looked back at Flippy, he didn't have that same look of guilt he held a few minutes earlier. "T-thank you for walking me home, Flippy", Flaky said in her usual shaky voice. "Not a problem, Flaky, it was my pleasure", Flippy smiled. Flaky loved his smile; it was always so warm and caring. Not anything like his evil side's smile which was sadistic and cruel. After waving goodbye, Flaky entered her small home and went into the kitchen. She made a simple bologna sandwich instead of actually cooking anything, on account of being much too tired. After eating her sandwich she put on her pajama shorts and an old tank top before lying down in her bed. She then let out a long yawn before slipping into unconsciousness.

_Flashback_

_The sleeping quarters were cold, as was the rest of the orphanage. Now that she was out of the examination room, Flaky was permitted to change out of her hospital gown and into her everyday clothes. Which consisted of an old dress shirt, a black pleated skirt, and worn brown boots. It was late fall and very cold out, so she decided to throw on a worn out brown cardigan sweater which she often used as an extra blanket when sleeping. After tying her boots, a white cat with a similar outfit except with mary-janes instead of boots and a cleaner looking dress shirt called over to Flaky._

"_Flaky! Let's go to the second floor! I'm starving!" _

_Flaky looked up to her friend, "Okay, Winter I'll be right there!" Flaky called back rather weakly. The 'examination' had taken a lot out of her. _

_Flaky and Winter moved through the long hallways as fast as they could, afraid that they would get caught. What made it worse was that they were near the medical help room. The children were absolutely forbidden to wander near the medical help room, but many children did anyway since it was so close to dining quarters. Nobody knew what went on in there; all they knew was that once you go in, you don't come back out. Some of the children think it has something to do with why they lock doors to the sleeping quarters at night, and why you can hear footsteps in the hallway when you're trying to fall asleep. But not ordinary footsteps, actually it differs from time to time. Sometimes they're slow as if someone is trying to maintain their balance, and other times they sound like someone is moving very fast on all fours._

_The two girls sighed in relief when they realized that they had made it outside of the dining quarters. Unfortunately, a certain other little girl wasn't so lucky. An angry voice could be heard around the corner of the hallway. A voice which Winter and Flaky followed. The two girls poked their heads around the corner and watched the scene before them. An old polar bear in a suit looked down with angry eyes at a little mouse girl who couldn't be a day over eight years old. She wore glasses and an outfit similar to Winters, the little girl had apparently been caught wandering the hallways. The little girl had begun to cry, causing the polar bear to drop his angry expression and replace it with a more sympathetic one. _

"_There there, sweety" the polar bear soothed, rubbing her shoulders the entire time. "I know getting in trouble is no fun…but if I just let you run off without getting a proper punishment then you'll just break more rules in the future."_

"_I-I w-w-won't d-do it again" The little girl said in between sniffs "I p-promise!"_

_The old polar bear shushed her and led her to a nearby room. "I'm punishing you so you'll grow up to be a responsible young lady. You'll have to go to bed without supper, but look on the bright side. When it comes time to go to bed, you'll be so tired you won't even want it."_

_The little girl only cried harder._

**I hadn't decided whether or not I would find a place for the pedophilia scene, but I thought it would be a good way to end the chapter. The old polar bear will most likely appear again soon so there will probably be future scenes similar to that one, not that many though since it doesn't play that big of a role in the story.**

**Reviews will be greatly appreciated! No Flames!**


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